This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 2001-24376, filed May 4, 2001, in the Korean Industrial Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plasma display panel (PDP), and more particularly, to a plate for a PDP on which discharging electrodes are formed, a method of fabricating the plate, and a PDP using the plate.
2. Description of the Related Art
Plasma displays generate a desired visual image by exciting a predetermined phosphor pattern with ultraviolet (UV) light generated by a plasma discharge occurring between two substrates in which a plasma gas is sealed. Such plasma displays are generally classified into a DC type and an AC type according to the corresponding driving voltage, (i.e., the discharging mechanism). AC type PDPs are further classified into two types: one is a double-substrate, two-electrode type, and the other is a surface discharge type.
For the DC type PDP, the electrodes are exposed to a discharge space and charges directly migrate between opposing electrodes. For the AC type PDP, the electrodes are covered with a dielectric layer. The plasma discharge is caused by the electric field of wall charges instead of by direct charge migration.
As an example, a surface discharging type PDP is shown in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 1, the PDP comprises a pair of substrates, a back plate 10 and a front plate 16. The back plate 10 comprises a series of first electrodes 11 arranged in a predetermined pattern, a dielectric layer 12 covering the first electrodes 11, and barrier walls 13 formed on the dielectric layer 12 to keep a discharge gap and to prevent electrical and optical crosstalk between cells. A fluorescent layer 19 is formed on at least one side of the discharge gap partitioned by the barrier walls 13. The front plate 16 comprises transparent second third electrodes 14 and 15, and bus electrodes 14a and 15a, which are narrow and arranged on the corresponding transparent second and third electrodes 14 and 15 to reduce line resistance. The front plate 16 further comprises a black matrix 20 formed between each pair of the transparent and third electrodes 14 and 15 to enhance the contrast of the image, a dielectric layer 17, and a protective layer 18 covering all electrodes 14, 15, 14a, and 15a and the black matrix 20.
In a conventional PDP such as that disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. hei 8-315735 and shown in FIG. 2, surface discharging electrodes 30a and 30b are arranged on at least one side of a surface discharging electrode region 30. The surface discharge electrodes 30a and 30b are partially and linearly divided in the longitudinal direction, and the divided surface discharging electrodes 30a and 30b are electrically connected by a plurality of electrode portions 31. The pairs of surface discharge electrodes 30a and 30b define a corresponding discharge gap 33 therebetween. A black matrix 34 is formed between adjacent pairs of the electrodes 30a and 30b. 
Another conventional PDP such as that disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. hei 9-129137 and shown in FIG. 3 includes a plurality of row electrodes 40, which extend parallel to each other in the horizontal direction and are arranged with a discharge gap 41 therebetween, and a plurality of column electrodes 42 extending from adjacent row electrodes 40, with a separation gap therebetween and opposite each other to form a light-emitting pixel region 44. There is also a light-emitting pixel region 43 with a narrower discharge gap than the light-emitting pixel region 44. A black matrix 46 is formed between adjacent pairs of the row electrodes 40.
As described above, in the conventional surface discharge AC type PDP, the electrodes arranged on the front plate 16 include the bus electrodes 14a and 15a formed of silver (Ag) paste, and transparent second and third electrodes 14 and 15 formed of indium tin oxide (ITO), or has a structure divided in the longitudinal direction using the Ag paste. Also, the black matrixes 20, 34, and 46 arranged between each pair of electrodes 14, 15, 30a, 30b and 40, which are paired to cause a discharge of plasma therebetween, are formed of a mixture of a black pigment and an insulating material.
To manufacture an optimal front plate capable of maximizing the function of a PDP as described above, the electrodes and the black matrix should be formed of appropriate materials (i.e., materials having different physical properties). For this reason, there is a need for separate patterning processes for the electrodes and the black matrix. However, the separate patterning processes complicate the overall manufacturing process.
For example, to manufacture the front plate 16 shown in FIG. 1 using the process in FIG. 4 for a front plate 16 that includes the bus electrodes 14a and 15a and the second and third electrodes 14 and 15 formed as ITO electrodes, a bare front plate is cleaned, and an ITO layer is deposited on the front plate 16 by a sputtering operation 100. Then, the second and third electrodes 14 and 15 are patterned for discharging as shown in operation 102. For this patterning process, a positive photoresist is deposited on the ITO layer, and is then exposed and etched using a predetermined mask pattern. After the ITO electrodes 14 and 15 are formed, bus electrodes 14a and 15a are printed on corresponding ITO electrodes 14 and 15 using the Ag paste, which are then dried and sintered to completely form the bus electrodes 14a and 15a in operations 104 and 106. After forming the bus electrodes 14a and 15a, the black matrix 20 is printed using a mixture of a black pigment and an insulating material in operation 108.
In the front plate manufacturing method described above, since the electrodes 14 and 15 and black matrix 20 are formed through separate operations 100-106 and 108, the number of working steps increases, which increases the likelihood of failure, thereby lowering productivity. In particular, in the case where the electrodes 14 or 15 of the front plate 16 are exclusively formed of metal, there are problems in that external light is reflected due to low external-light absorbency, and the black matrix 20 cannot be formed as fine patterns.
To solve the above and other problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a plate for a plasma display panel (PDP), where the electrodes and a black matrix have good adhesiveness with respect to a plate member and improved mechanical characteristics due to the absence of internal stress.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a method of fabricating a plate for a PDP in which electrodes and a black matrix can be formed through simple processes so that productivity is improved.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a PDP with enhanced brightness and contrast characteristics by using a plate on which electrodes and a black matrix are formed.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
To achieve the above and other objects, a plate for a plasma display panel (PDP) according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a plate member formed of a transparent material, a series of electrodes formed in a predetermined pattern on the plate member, and a dielectric layer formed on the plate member to cover the electrodes, wherein the electrodes are formed of a dielectric first component and a second component of at least one selected from a group consisting of iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), vanadium (V), titanium (Ti), aluminum (Al), silver (Ag), silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), yttrium (Y), zinc (Zn), zirconium (Zr), tungsten (W), tantalum (Ta), copper (Cu), and platinum (Pt).
According to an aspect of the present invention, the plate of the PDP further includes a black matrix pattern formed between each of the electrodes.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, a method of fabricating a plate for a plasma display panel (PDP) includes preparing a transparent plate member, depositing into a single deposition boat a mixture of 3-50% SiO by weight as a dielectric material and 50-97% by weight of at least one metal selected from a group consisting of iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), vanadium (V), titanium (Ti), aluminum (Al), silver (Ag), silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), yttrium (Y), zinc (Zn), zirconium (Zr), tungsten (W), tantalum (Ta), copper (Cu), and platinum (Pt), wherein the dielectric material and metal have different melting points, loading the plate member into a vacuum chamber, and depositing the SiO and metal on the plate member while gradually raising the temperature of the deposition boat, patterning the deposited SiO and metal into electrodes and a black matrix pattern by photolithography, and forming a dielectric layer on the plate member on which the electrodes and the black matrix pattern are formed.
According to a further embodiment of the present invention, a plasma display panel includes a back plate, first electrodes formed in a predetermined pattern on the back plate, a transparent front plate bonded with the back plate having the first electrodes to form a discharge space therebetween, second and third electrodes formed on one side of the front plate opposite the first electrodes at a predetermined angle with respect to a direction of the first electrodes, a barrier to partition the discharge space between the back plate and front plate, a first dielectric layer formed on the back plate to cover the first electrodes, a second dielectric layer formed on the front plate to cover the second and third electrodes, and a black matrix pattern formed between each pair of the second and third electrodes on the one side of the front plate, wherein the black matrix pattern and one of the first electrodes, or the second, and the third electrodes comprise a dielectric material and a conductive metal, and amounts of the dielectric material and conductive metal change as a function a thickness of the electrodes and black matrix pattern extending into the discharge space.
According to an additional embodiment of the present invention, a PDP includes a back plate, a transparent front plate bonded with the back plate with a predetermined separation gap to form a discharge space therebetween, first and second electrodes arranged on a side of at least one of the back plate and front plate to cause a discharge of a plasma, and a discharge gas with which the discharge space is filled, wherein the first and second electrodes include a dielectric first component and a metallic second component of at least one selected from a group consisting of iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), vanadium (V), titanium (Ti), aluminum (Al), silver (Ag), silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), yttrium (Y), zinc (Zn), zirconium (Zr), tungsten (W), tantalum (Ta), copper (Cu), and platinum (Pt).
According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, a PDP includes a back plate, first electrodes formed in a predetermined pattern on the back plate, a transparent front plate bonded with the back plate having the first electrodes to form a discharge space therebetween, second and third electrodes formed on one side of the front plate opposite the first electrodes at a predetermined angle with respect to a direction of the first electrodes, a barrier to partition the discharge space between the back plate and the front plate, a first dielectric layer formed on the back plate to cover the first electrodes, a second dielectric layer formed on the front plate to cover the second and third electrodes, and a black matrix pattern formed between adjacent pairs of the second and third electrodes on the one side of the front plate, wherein the black matrix pattern and one of the first electrodes, the second, and the third electrodes are formed of a dielectric first component and a metallic second component of at least one selected from a group consisting of iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), vanadium (V), titanium (Ti), aluminum (Al), silver (Ag), silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), yttrium (Y), zinc (Zn), zirconium (Zr), tungsten (W), tantalum (Ta), copper (Cu), and platinum (Pt).
According to an aspect of the present invention, the dielectric first component may comprise at least one dielectric material selected from a group consisting of SiOx, MgF2, CaF2, Al2O3, SnO2, In2O3, and ITO, where xxe2x89xa71.